Govt should back court verdict to save cricket: Sadal

ISLAMABAD - Major (r) Ahmed Nadeem Sadal defended his earlier stance of challenging Zaka Ashraf's elections in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Talking to The Nation, Sadal said: “I just filed petition in the Islamabad High Court because Zaka Ashraf organised the PCB elections without any announcement and following legal procedure. He should have properly announced elections and conduct regional elections, but he opted to play safer.” “I filed writ petition in the IHC against Najam Sethi's appointment, as government had sent names of Majid Khan, Naqvi and Chishti Mujahid through the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Cooperation (IPC) in the IHC, but government, all of sudden, appointed Sethi as PCB chairman through a notification. I challenged his appointment as he was non-technocrat and also belonged to a certain media group, so the appointment was against conflict of interests,” he added. He elaborated: “That petition was still pending with the IHC and the hearing is on May 27 as Sethi was only given mandate to conduct the PCB and regional elections but he instead managed to get permanent chairmanship through a government notification/SRO in his favour. He doesn't have any power to hire or fire any person. Ahmed Nawaz, a petitioner, filed a petition in the IHC and honorable justice Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui dismissed Sethi and nullified his appointment. I then filed another writ petition number 498 of contempt of court against government challenging the court's authority.” To a query, Sadal replied: “All appointments will be null and void and only a competent person appointed through proper and legal procedure have the right to take important decisions and implement them. The ICC or any other body should not interfere in our personal issues and I expect Zaka Ashraf to make right decisions and hope he will abide by the rules and regulations and take all the stake holders on board before making any key decision.” “I am also expecting government to use common sense and accept the court verdict in true letter and spirit and let Zaka perform his official duties in best possible way. It is the time the government should not dictate terms as it is the only viable solution to tackle with the international commitments and in my opinion, the ICC will have no objection in this regard,” Sadal concluded.